With the enactment of rigorous environmental protection laws and regulations which serve to minimize the pollution of public bodies of water by contaminants discharged from watercraft it has become desirable to devise new methods and apparatus for use in the winterization and cleaning of certain marine engines with various antifreeze and flushing solutions and in the recovery of antifreeze and flushing solutions from such engines prior to subsequent normal boating operations.
Previously both apparatus and methods have been devised for use in the winterization of water distribution systems incorporated into various recreational vehicles. U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,154 issued to Goodwin, for instance, discloses apparatus for introducing an antifreeze solution from a system tank into various cold-water pipes, hot-water pipes, toilet fixtures, and the like incorporated in a house trailer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,617 issued in the name of Bedient also teaches water system freeze protection apparatus for a recreational vehicle in two different embodiments. One embodiment is operated manually; the other embodiment utilizes an electrical control to accomplish a preferred valving sequence.
Another form of recreational vehicle winterizing apparatus is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,021 issued to Bozeman. The Bozeman winterizing system appears to be distinguished by the use of key-driven cam surfaces which sequentially contact and actuate a series of electrical switches to accomplish a preferred valving sequence.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,538 in the name of Sandt et al. teaches a water supply winterizing system for recreational vehicles that includes an installed antifreeze tank. A system pump and ancillary controls operate to flow antifreeze from the system antifreeze tank into various lines during a winterizing mode and to return the antifreeze to the antifreeze tank during a summarizing mode of system operation.
None of the prior art systems are useful for either supplying antifreeze to or recovering antifreeze from marine engines, especially marine engines of the type that utilize open-loop liquid cooling. Such engines typically utilize water received from an intake immersed in the body of water upon which the watercraft is operating to cool the engine. Afterwards the cooling water circulated through the engine is flowed to a discharge and returned to the body of water from which it was drawn.
My invention, when properly utilized in both the "winterizing" and "dewinterizing" phases of watercraft maintenance, properly provides an antifreeze solution to the marine engine to assure that no damage to the engine will occur during winter due to the freezing of water and also permits the recovery of contained antifreeze solution from the engine for possible re-use without having such antifreeze solution pollute any public body of water or waterway.